Kiwi mum photographs raising her kids TV-free

Photographer Niki Boon lives with her partner and four children in Marlborough. Her children are homeschooled and have been brought up without TV and modern devices.

Ms Boon takes documentary images that capture the life of her children.

They are tender moments between siblings, her daughter's face inches from a tiny chick, her sons peering joy-faced through a window, where her daughter looks on, a fairy knighting her gumbooted son in a field of grape vines.

Her photos document a life undisturbed by modern technology.

Arwen, Anton, Rebecca and Kurt have been raised without screens. Ms Boon says they'll have no TV, computer or iPads until at least high school.

"Their influences are purely themselves and the land," she says.

She's chosen to homeschool the children, saying if one of the kids has an interest in a particular subject, that's what they'll focus on.

"If Anton is into science, we'll go forward and do that. One of the things we'll do routinely is maths."

When people see her photos, they often ask how the children will function in a technology-driven society.

"Everybody chooses what's best for their family, and this is what we've chosen," Ms Boon says.

The lack of technology isn't a strict rule; it's just how the Boons prefer their home life.

The children know what Google is and there's a computer in the house -- it's just a last resort. They use books and atlases whenever possible.

"If they're somewhere and there's a TV on, that's fine. They do live in the world. It's just we choose not to make them a part of our everyday life."